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Shout Factory! Kids Shows Love for Gerry Anderson & Upcoming Releases

Shout Factory! Kids has a wonderful selection of products that is now or will soon be available for purchase. Many will tickle the funny bone of fans from different generations and tastes. The following is a selection that the staff of Otaku no Culture has eyed while browsing their online catalogue.

In what’s coming, perhaps the biggest news is for Gerry Anderson fans as his library of works is being redistributed. See for yourself what the upcoming couple of months will reveal:

Jan 13 – Stingray: The Complete Series [50th Anniversary Edition]

Fans of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Marionation will celebrate at the redistribution of the underwater adventure series Stingray. Stingray is the flagship of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (W.A.S.P.) and under the command of heroic Captain Troy Tempest they patrol beneath the world’s oceans protecting the human race from what evil lurks in its depths.

Shout! Factory took over the Anderson licence after the home release rights with A&E Home Video expired. Fans may find similar extras on this edition as on the A&E version minus the French end-credits sequence. Such an extra to someone wanting to relive television’s golden years may find this trivial. But to the Anderson collector they may have to go fishing in deeper waters for that A&E release and pay extra cash in the process.

Jan 27 – My Little Pony: The Movie [30th Anniversary]

Bronies and young fans can catch this 30th Anniversary release where the Ponys get ready to celebrate Spring. But when the evil Witch Hydia has other plans involving a hideous goo called Smooze, that may get ground to a halt! This movie features the voices of Danny DeVito, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Rhea Perlman, Tony Randall and many more.

This edition offers sing-along tracks for children.

Pages: 1234

Bark, Don’t Howl at the Moon, Wolfcop! A Movie Review

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Wolfcop is certainly not barking up the wrong tree in its tongue in cheek look at lycanthropy. This Canadian made film by writer/director Lowell Dean has plenty of bite in all the right places with jokes to those in the know and a style straight out of Creepshow. When considering this creature is better known in European folklore, some folks may well be understanding as to why the EU got the video release first.

This UK release is certainly worth importing in when there’s no signs of where to find the wolf in North America. Hopefully more details will emerge as to whether this region one release has the same collection of bonus material as the region two. So far, there’s no indicatations from Image Entertainment if there are any at all. And currently, this movie can be found at select film festivals and it is available for pre-order on Amazon.com with a scheduled street date of March 10 2015 in Canada and May 12th in the States, but can anyone wait that long? The hunt for it is strangely appropriate when people think about it.

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More Penguin Adventures are Abound with Jasper, Journey to the End of the World

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Jasper DVD For the penguin known as Jasper, there must be a collective “aww” as most of the world will be paying attention to the release of the Penguins of Madagascar movie this week. This little unknown bird is perhaps better recognized in Germany than in any other country for his antics. As a children’s animated product who first shot to recognition in the UK release titled Jasper, Penguin Explorer through Soda Pictures (who also released A Cat in Paris and Tales of the Night). Shout! Factory Kids is bringing an English re-release to North American audiences as the re-titled, Jasper: Journey to the End of the World which is now available for preorder.

This family friendly product is bound to delight in simpler ways more than with more socially complex films like Happy Feet or March of the Penguins. However, the environmental message all these films make are abundantly clear: For Jasper, it’s in seeing how changes upon the land created by humanity can impact any species. But even more important is how individuals have to take responsibility for their actions. Perhaps he can make friends with other birds of a feather like Pingu or Scamper (Penguin Lolo), but not everyone will recognize all these foreign characters. At least for this curious bird, he will find that adventure is at large when a ship sails deep south. With his young brother, Junior, just what kind of fun they will have with young Emma and Captain may well start to rival Tintin’s own globetrotting escapades.

This latest product by director Eckart Fingberg was originally made in 2008 and released to a limited market. With thanks to Shout!, a new generation can delight to a North American release of a foreign classic March 10, 2015.

Guardians of the Galaxy Toy & Video Updates and Speculation

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Paul Gitter of Marvel Licensing reveals that more products featuring everyone’s favourite dancing tree will be coming. In an interview to ToyNews, this spokesman revealed that his team knows the demand is there, especially among collectors.

“Anything for collectors and fans [are selling well], like Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line, Funko’s vinyls, and adult t-shirts. And the LEGO construction sets are performing great,” said Gitter, “Several items for kids, especially the LEGO sets and the Rocket plush, are selling well too, and we know the interest with kids will only grow as we get closer to the holidays and especially the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD release (scheduled for Dec 9, 2014 release).”

Thankfully, this video release will include a teaser for the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron film along with the usual bevy of extras. Looking at this bonus material will be good, and no details have been revealed if director James Gunn miming the movements he wanted for the end mid-credit sequence was recorded. If this video short is included, that will be a product to purchase!

If fans are still hot for when baby Groot was seen dancing then the next bit of information will have the anxiety for a proper homage product grow.

Gitter revealed that a proper sound activated dancing feature to the Jackson 5 song is being worked on. KIDdesigns should have it ready for the holidays for Walmart stores in the US. As for everywhere else, only time will tell if it can be purchased online for export. Otherwise eBay will be flooded with folks looking to make a huge buck for whatever this “dancing product” is going to be. Chances are high that it will be Groot!

Canadian Indie “Stress Position” Aims to be a Genre Bender, An Interview

The independently produced Canadian film Stress Position spent most of last year touring the film festivals gaining accolades and it’s now available for a wider audience to examine as a video release.

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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The independently produced Canadian film Stress Position spent most of last year touring the film festivals gaining accolades and it’s now available for a wider audience to examine as a video release. In North America, it can be either purchased as a DVD (complete with deleted scenes and commentaries) or streamed online through VOD.

This movie owes its debt to a strong group of collaborators to make it an art house success In special screenings across Canada, film-makers A.J. Bond and Amy Belling were on hand to answer questions and to connect with viewers in order to discuss the more intricate details afterwards.

“Very early on in the process of making this film, the plot veered into territory we did not expect. Although we kept a lot of the pivotal torture scenes the same, the overall kind of themes went in a much more personal meta direction,” reveals Bond.

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Disney’s Gargoyles are on the Loose!

Fans of Disney’s Gargoyles do not have to go through the Disney Movie Club (DMC) to order the highly desired Season Two Volume Two release.

Disney's Gargoyles Season 2 Volume 2 Cover Fans of Disney’s Gargoyles do not have to go through the Disney Movie Club (DMC) to order the highly desired Season Two Volume Two release. It was once an exclusive through this mail order catalogue house and the months that followed after my editorial has shown that the Mouse does care. A tip from a reader to say that they have made buying this release easier and further monitoring of where this video collection can be found shows that the stone protectors of the night are indeed loose! This volume can now be ordered through Amazon.